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PITTSFIELD, Mass. – The Fontaine’s Auction Gallery May antique and clock auction has more than 1,000 lots scheduled for sale. The main antique clock and watch auction will feature many cataloged antique clocks and watches to be sold in numbered order in two days.

Bids will be accepted in the gallery, on the phone, by absentee bidding or on ArtFact.com. These clocks will be sold fully described and guaranteed. Previews will be held Friday, May 29, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Saturday, May 30, 10 a.m.-11 a.m., and Sunday, May 31, 10 a.m.-11 a.m.

The featured lot is a Howard no. 61 Astronomical Regulator, which will be the third such Howard no. 61 offered by Fontaine’s within a year. The first set a world record selling for $195,500 in June of last year, while another example gaveled for $189,750 at an auction conducted in November.

The initial owner of this clock, A. F. Robertson, was a lifelong craftsman in the art of watch making. In 1861, at age 16, he began to study watch making and engraving in San Francisco. In St. Cloud, Minn., six years later, he founded his first jewelry business. The clock was purchased for this store in the late 1860s; the front glass pane read “A. F. Robertson.” In 1907 he moved to Harlowton, Mont., until is death.

The family took meticulous care of the clock as it sat protected on a custom pedestal made to safeguard the clock in the store. They kept a log of all the maintenance. This maintenance was continued and logged up to the present day.